Major Headscratching

The French Ministry of Culture has fired Nicholas Bourriaud as head of Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris (otherwise known as ENSBA) , and the rumour has it that the incoming Director, Eric de Chassey, is close friends with President Hollande’s close friend, Julie Gayet.

Who is Nicholas Bourriaud and why is he important? Nicolas Bourriaud, born in 1965, is a historian and art critic. He co-led the Palais de Tokyo with Jérôme Sans, until 2006, in Paris, before taking up the post as Gulbenkian curator for contemporary art at the Tate Britain until 2010. That same year, he assumed the functions as Head of Inspection of artistic creation to the Ministry of Culture. He was appointed in October 2011 as the director of the National School of Fine Arts in Paris. Until 2 July 2015, that is. Officially, he’s not “international enough”. Major headscratching.